Attitudes Toward Bilingual Education: A Study of Parents with Children in Selected Bilingual Programs.

Gutierrez, Lorraine P.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes toward bilingual education of parents whose children were in bilingual programs and to find if attitude differences related to sex, age, mobility, and education existed between income groups. The sample consisted of 110 pairs of parents whose children were in bilingual programs in 10 schools in the Albuquerque Public School System. The sample was divided into 2 socioeconomic groups based on occupation and subdivided by sex, age, mobility, and education. A 63-item questionnaire was administered to each pair of parents by a trained Spanish-speaking interviewer. The results indicated an homogeneous positive attitude toward bilingual education with few significant differences between socioeconomic groups. It was also found that those under age 35 were more positive in their attitudes than were the older group, that amount of education did not seem to alter attitudes significantly, and that the amount of mobility significantly affected the response toward certain statements. The major conclusion of the study was that parents enthusiastically approved of the on-going bilingual and bicultural programs to which their children were being exposed. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (PS)